Sunday, August 6, 2017

Month End TTM Roundup: 7/3-8/6

Received On: 07/05/2017

My first TTM return in July came from A's prospect Dakota Chalmers.
Dakota Chalmers was drafted by the Oakland A's in the third round of the 2015 MLB Player Draft. The 6'3" right-hander is armed with a low-90's fastball that can reach 97 mph, a curveball and a changeup. Chalmers projects to have a ceiling of a middle of the rotation starter (number 3/4 type), and the floor of a serviceable reliever. Consistency is a bit of an issue with Chalmers but he still has a lot of time to harness it and really show what he can do.

Received On: 07/08/2017

Next up is a return from Yankees org coach, Jose Javier.
Javier was signed by the New York Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 2010, and spent six seasons in the Yankees org as an infielder, reaching as high as single-A Charleston. However he hung up the spikes following the 2015 season and became a defensive coach in 2016. He's still a defensive coach for the Charleston Riverdogs as of 2017.

Received On: 07/17/2017

Here's a return from Cleveland backstop prospect, Logan Ice.
Drafted in the competitive balance round of the 2016 MLB Player Draft, Logan Ice projects to be a very competent catcher with a high floor. The floor of a backup catcher in the MLB. Ice's best attribute is his elite defense and catching ability behind the plate. Offensively Ice still has some work to do but if he can tap into his power a little, he'd be a very solid backup catcher for the Clevelands in the future.

Received On: 07/24/2017

A rare MLB return from Raisel Iglesias.
Raisel Iglesias was signed out of Cuba as a non-drafted international free agent in 2014 by the Cincinnati Reds. Initially the then-24 year old was seen as a potential starter with a fastball in the low-90's that can reach 95 mph at times along with a changeup and a slider. The Reds immediately brought him up to the big leagues in 2015. He faltered a bit as a starter, his work-in-progress changeup was especially getting hit hard (although he used it the least out of his offerings). Midway through 2016 the Reds decided to transition Iglesias into a reliever where he performed much better and relied more on his fastball-slider combination to get hitters out in limited innings. Here in 2017, Raisel Iglesias has really flourished as a closer/late inning reliever. A big reason for that is that there's an uptick in his velocity, his fastballs were around 93 mph in 2016, this year they're around 96 mph. They've reportedly even hit 100 mph at times this season. According to Brooks Baseball, his slider has also seen an uptick in velocity. Now Iglesias is an interesting piece for the Reds. A quick look at a lot of baseball news sites reveals that he's a wanted commodity by teams needing bullpen help (all of them basically), especially the Nationals, although a lot of those whispers were before the Doolittle/Madson trade. The rebuilding Reds can either keep Iglesias (who is signed through 2020 on a pretty nice deal), or use his years of control as a bargaining tool in a trade to get even more prospects to help their rebuild. Should be fun to see what the Reds do with him, just like it's fun to see Raisel throw pure heat in the ninth.

Received On: 07/28/2017

Here's an awesome return from Rangers SS prospect, Charles LeBlanc.
LeBlanc was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Player Draft. The Quebec (Canada), native has a little bit of an uphill battle due to how he's a bit of a late bloomer. LeBlanc didn't play baseball full time until 2015, but thus far he's shown that he can get on base like nobodies business. According to Fangraphs, Charles LeBlanc is hitting for a very good .365 BABIP (as of the time of writing this) as well as a .313 batting average and .397 OBP. Not a lot of power, and a few too many strikeouts, but give him some time to adjust and he'll probably a key sleeper prospect in the Rangers org for years to come.

Received On: 07/29/2017

Next up is Rockies lefty, Helmis Rodriguez.
H-Rod was signed by the Colorado Rockies as a non-drafted international free agent in 2010. Armed with a high-80 mph fastball, curveball and changeup, the Venezuelan southpaw had the ceiling of a back of the rotation starter, but after a pretty down 2016 campaign, the Rockies have moved Helmis to the bullpen. His curveball is his best offering, and his curveball-fastball combination can induce a lot of a ground balls. This season too has been a bit of a down one for Rodriguez. Hopefully he can still make something of himself as a LOOGY in the Rockies bullpen one day.

Received On: 08/03/2017

Here is Twins prospect, Bailey Ober.
Ober was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Player Draft (making this return my first from a 2017 draftee). Ober has been on draft radars for a while but right when he was starting to get really noticed, he got Tommy John surgery in 2015. Then in 2016 the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him in the 23rd round (but didn't sign). He has a really lively fastball that allowed him to rack up a ton of K's in college, as well as a changeup. The Twins will monitor his health closely as he gets farther away from TJS and hope that he can reach his ceiling of a capable MLB pitcher.

Received On: 08/04/2017

Here is my first retired and completely out of baseball return in a while, Seth Fortenberry.
It features Seth Fortenberry who was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 11th round of the 2006 MLB Player Draft. The outfielder had some promise thanks to a strong arm and good defense. Offensively he hit pretty consistently in the lower levels of the minors, even hit with some power. But injuries wrecked his potential when he was getting to the higher levels. All in all he spent five years as a professional minor leaguer with the Yankees and Marlins orgs, as well as indy ball before retiring in 2010. He later spent some time coaching at Sam Houston State University. He's a high school principal now.

Received On: 08/05/2017

Next up is former Yankees prospect, Josh Gardiner.
Josh Gardiner was originally signed by the Schaumburg Boomers (indy ball) as a non-drafted free agent in 2016. He had a pretty nice stint with them that caught the attention of the New York Yankees who then signed him to a contract. Gardiner spent the rest of the 2016 season with the Pulaski Yankees and put up some nice numbers. Unfortunately he was caught up in a lot of roster crunches and was released earlier this year. He's now hustling for the Schaumburg Boomers again and hopefully plays well enough to be in affiliated ball again soon.

Received On: 08/05/2017

Next up is a return from Twins prospect Wander Javier.
Wander Javier was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2015. The 18 year old shortstop was deemed one of the top international free agent prospects back then and has finally arrived stateside to show what he can do. A five tool talent who can do a bit of everything, the shortstop still has a lot of things to work on, such as hitting for consistency, but most think that he'll get better with time. The power isn't there yet but he's still 18, in a few years from now he could be an above average hitting shortstop with a strong arm and lots of range. That should be fun.